Person:Walter Dalton (4)

Information fron The John Dalton Book of Genealogy. After the battle of Newbury he settled in South Wales. He moved from Witney to Pembury in 1643 or 1644. The Civil War and its aftermath proved somewhat of a disaster for the Dalton FamhIy. The Senior Thurnham Line lost Colonel Dalton at the Battle of Newbury in l644. John Dalton of the Yorkshire branch died of wounds in the same year. The Irish Daltons of County Westmeath were broken as "territorial magnates by the Cromwellian devastations"(1). Perhaps, however, the Junior Thurnham Line paid the highest price in the Dalton support of the Royalist cause. The main calamity, which befell this branch of the family, is associated with the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and its consequences. Walter Dalton (1603-1666) the head of the Junior Dalton Line, played an active part in the Civil War. He fought at Newbury in the regiment of his cousin Colonel Dalton(2). Not deterred by Cromwell's victory and the death of the King, he joined the invading Scottish army lead by Charles II. A family tradition is that either he was the paymaster of the Army or he was associated with that office (3). With Walter went his younger brothers Charles (1605-1651) and William (1614-l651), together with other relations and friends. The Scots and their supporters proved no match for the military genius of Cromwell and the Royalist army was routed at the Battle of Worcester in September 1651. The fight was an exceedingly bloody business even for the Civil war and many Royalists were killed including both Walter's brothers, Charles and William. According to one source "at this battle there were ten Dalton brothers, cousins and uncles killed." (3). According to a verbal family tradition, Walter and a relation Rowland escaped from the field, laden with the royal paychest (4). He hastily collected his wife and young children to make a get away to South Wales. The journey lasted into the winter and the conditions were so harsh that three of Walter's children died - Thomas aged 8, Ormonde aged 6 and Walter aged 3. (3). The youngest child, James, aged l, survived and became the ancestor of the Junior Dalton Line and the American Daltons of Salt Lake City. Walter and his surviving family settled down at Pembrey near to the seat of the Earl at Golden Grove. His financial position appears to have been satisfactory and he sent his son James to the Inns of Court in London where he qualified as a barrister-at-law. James, probably through both the Vaughan and Dalton connections, acquired the post of Receiver for the Duchy of Lancaster, which was held in turn by his eldest son John. Another son Richard became Sheriff. It is obvious that the Civil war had a rather devastating effect on Walter and his family. The number of male Daltons was drastically reduced and the young James's chances of survival could not have been rated high in the hard winter of 1651. Yet the family adapted itself, survived and then rebuilt both its numbers and its socio-economic position - quite a remarkable feat in a troubled period of Eglish history.